Africa is splitting—and Earth's sixth ocean is rising from below
Story by Joseph Shavit • 2h
In the dry, sun-scorched deserts of Ethiopia, a slow but astonishing transformation has been unfolding since 2005. A 35-mile-long crack, known as the East African Rift, is gradually tearing through the landscape—marking the early stages of a colossal geological shift.
This isn’t just another crack in the earth. It has the power to change global maps, reshape political borders, and give rise to Earth’s sixth ocean. What may seem like a localized rift is, in fact, the start of something vast and world-altering.
The engine behind this dramatic process lies beneath our feet. Tectonic plates—huge, shifting slabs of the Earth’s crust—float atop a semi-fluid layer called the mantle. Their slow movements have built mountains, split continents, and now, they’re rewriting the future of East Africa.
In this case, the Somalian plate is drifting away from the Nubian plate. That movement mirrors the ancient split between South America and Africa—a process that began hundreds of millions of years ago. But this one is happening right now, and its consequences are already visible.
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